1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable vehicle seat assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly including a seat cushion and seat back having thin seating surfaces and inflatable bolsters that automatically inflate and deflate in response to pivoting the seat back between an upright position and a folded position.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles, such as minivans, sport utility vehicles, and trucks include one or more rear seat assemblies having a seat cushion and a seat back for supporting passengers above a vehicle floor. Many such seat assemblies are movable to a stowed position for increasing storage capacity within the vehicle by folding the seat back forwardly to a fold flat position overlying the seat cushion. Additionally, the seat assembly may be lowered toward the vehicle floor as the seat back is folded forwardly to the fold flat position to further increase the available storage capacity of the vehicle. Conventional seat assemblies include thick foam cushions, which have a stowed thickness of 250 to 300 millimeters when the seat assemblies are in the stowed position.
More recently, thin seat assemblies have come into production with thinner foam cushions, which have a reduced stowed thickness of 160 to 200 millimeters when the seat assemblies are in the stowed position. Such seat assemblies with thinner foam cushions sacrifice occupant comfort in order to attain this reduced stowed thickness.
Alternatively, it is well known in the vehicle seating art to provide seat assemblies with mechanically collapsible bolsters. The seat back includes side back bolsters and the seat cushion includes side cushion bolsters that are in a deployed position when the seat assembly is in the seating position. When the seat assembly is moved to the stowed position, the side back bolsters and the side cushion bolsters are mechanically urged to a collapsed position, thereby decreasing the overall thickness of the stowed seat assembly. Such mechanically collapsible bolsters require complicated internal linkages to actuate the bolsters between the deployed and collapsed positions and these linkages limit how thin the stowed seat assembly can be.
It is also well known in the vehicle seating art to use inflatable air bladders in place of foam cushions to attain a desired stowed thickness when the seat assembly is in the stowed position. One such example of this is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,053 to Lux et al. In Lux et al., a vehicle seat assembly includes a seat back pivotally coupled to a seat cushion for movement between an upright position and a folded position. The seat cushion includes a seat cushion frame and an inflatable seat cushion air bladder. The seat back includes a seat back frame and an inflatable seat back air bladder. The seat assembly includes a mechanical release valve operatively positioned between the seat back and the seat cushion. The release valve is configured to automatically open to deflate the seat back air bladder and the seat cushion air bladder when the seat back is pivoted toward the folded position. As the seat back is returned to the upright position, the release valve is automatically closed to allow inflation of the seat back air bladder and the seat cushion air bladder by a compressor or pump.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a vehicle seat assembly including a thin seat cushion and a thin seat back that is movable to a stowed position to attain a reduced stowed thickness without sacrificing occupant comfort. It is further desirable to provide a vehicle seat assembly including a seat back air bladder and a seat cushion air bladder that are incorporated into an air control system which automatically inflates and deflates the seat back and seat cushion air bladders in response to pivoting the seat back between an upright seating position and a fold flat position.